History 416

The Election of 1924

October 17, 2005

I. The 1920s Economic Order

            1. The Constitution according to William Howard Taft (professionalization and celebration of judiciary; federal rules of procedure)

            2. The Court and Economics (child labor; minimum wage; regulation)

3. New Economic Structures (corporatism; labor and agriculture)

II. The Demise of Progressivism

            1. The Reorientation of the GOP (1920: Wood, Johnson, Lowden; Harding as compromise choice; cabinet government; holding cos. and economic organization; scandals)

            2. The Peace Progressives (La Follette and Midwestern radicalism; Norris and public power; Borah and GOP independence; 1922 elections; Wheeler and Teapot Dome)

            3. The Collapse of the Democrats (regional and ideological splits; the emergence of cultural issues—Prohibition, organized crime, and “Alcohol Al”; McAdoo and cultural conservatism; religion, race, and ethnicity)

            4. Nativism (labor and nativism; 1921 and 1924 Immigration Acts; re-emergence of Ku Klux Klan; national appeal and cultural conservatism)

III. The Election of 1924

            1. Republicans (Harding death and Coolidge elevation; maneuvering around Teapot Dome; business of America is business; Borah and Johnson decisions)

            2. The Progressive Challenge (La Follette and bipartisan progressive coalition; role of AFL; Wheeler nomination; “consumer” class and regulation)

            3. Democratic Divisions (the MSG convention and legacy of 2/3rds rule; KKK resolution; Davis compromise)

            4. Course of the Contest (demonizing La Follette; Progressive campaign difficulties; Davis and the inert campaign; Coolidge victory)

            5. Effects (progressivism and national politics—death of La Follette; Scopes trial—decline of cultural conservatism; William Vare, Frank Smith, and revolt against political corruption; 1926 elections and shift to the left)

Possible IDs for midterm—10 will appear; you’ll have to do 7.